SAN FRANCISCO – Travis Long says Washington State players don’t talk about the tenuous status of the football coaching staff.
Not much needs to be said.
Obviously, when a fourth-year coach – Paul Wulff, for instance – is 3-6 for the season and 8-38 for his career, the man’s job, and those of his assistants, are clearly on the line.
“It hasn’t affected me,” said Long, a junior defensive end. “I don’t think it’s affected other people.”
“We stay out of that stuff,” said John Fullington, a sophomore offensive guard from North Mason High School. “The coaches are coaching their butts off.
“They’re doing their best. I’ve got a lot of respect for them. I know they’re putting in so much time and effort.
“It’d be a shame if we had to lose coaches here because they’ve given a lot of us. We’ve got to ‘bring it’ on the field and hopefully save their jobs.”
It may be too late. The Cougars have lost five games in a row since starting this season 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Pacific-12 Conference. Both marks were the best in Wulff’s four years in charge.
Athletic director Bill Moos has repeatedly said he will wait until the end of the season to determine whether Wulff will be brought back for the final year of his contract.
Wulff makes $600,000 a year, easily the lowest salary among Pac-12 head football coaches.
Wulff said the Cougars “got outplayed, period, from the (opening) kickoff” in Saturday’s 30-7 loss to California.
Both teams desperately needed to win to keep their bowl hopes alive, but the Cougars came out flat after a good week of practice.
“I can’t explain it,” safety Tyree Toomer said. “I wish I could.”
“The performance today was not acceptable and it starts with me,” Wulff said.
The Cougars have gone scoreless in the first quarters of four straight games. The Cougars have not led in the first quarter since they held a 3-0 lead five games ago in what became a 28-25 loss to UCLA on Oct. 8.
“We start off slow,” running back Rickey Galvin said, “then start to pick it up, and it’s probably too late.”
Is it too late to save Wulff’s job?
“We don’t talk about that stuff,” Long said. “I mean, you can’t control that. We’re not making any decisions.”
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